Convicted man avoids jail to pay victim’s medical bill
(CNS): Joshua Allan Bush (22) from George Town avoided going to jail last month when his sentence for assault causing actual bodily harm was suspended for two years and a strict curfew was imposed to give him a chance at rehabilitation and allow him to work and pay off the CI$6,000 medical bill of his victim. Bush was convicted of an assault on a man outside the Power Supply Bar at the Marquee Plaza in February. The 37-year-old victim was kicked in the face and body by Bush and another man for several minutes.
The man suffered swelling and bruising to his left eye, a broken jaw and lost four teeth as well as bruising to his body in what the judge described as a brutal and prolonged attack. The assault was caught on CCTV and Bush pleaded guilty to the charge on his first appearance before the Grand Court in May after he was tracked down by police several months later following appeals to the public. Bush claimed that the victim had taunted him saying insulting things about his family and he had lashed out.
When he appeared in court for the sentencing verdict last month, Justice Cheryll Richards had said that the offence was serious and had reached the custody threshold, aggravated by the fact that it took place outside a bar at 10pm at night and Bush had a previous conviction for a similar offence.
“This was a vicious, brutal and prolonged attack on the victim,” the judge said. “He was kicked in the face and punched and kicked over his body. He was hospitalised. The impact upon him has been both psychological and physical and is long term in nature.”
Justice Richards said that the victim had endured more than four months trying to adjust to dentures and difficulty eating because of the loss of his teeth, as recorded in the victim impact statement.
“He has been afraid to smile and talk to people because of his missing teeth. He describes himself as having a broken heart and feeling humiliated. All the circumstances taken together led to the conclusion that the offending is serious and that the custody threshold is firmly passed,” she said.
However, despite this finding and his high risk of re-offending, the judge said Bush’s probation officer had seen a marked improvement in him recently, regardless of his long troubled history and a number of learning difficulties. After he was charged in this case, Bush served time on remand, and that experience was said to have had a deterrent effect. He was also remorseful about the crime.
“In this case, there is a clear and timely need for compensation to be paid to the victim. This cannot be met if the defendant receives an immediate custodial term,” Justice Richards said.
Having imposed a sentence of 20 months, she suspended the jail time for a period of two years. Pointing to the challenges faced by Bush and his personal circumstances, including psychological and cognitive difficulties, she said he was in need of therapeutic interventions to ensure no re-occurrence of offending. But she said a suspended sentence would “meet the aim of restitution to the victim, rehabilitation of the defendant and as a deterrence”.
The judge ordered Bush to pay the victim’s medical bills of $6,077.97 immediately, otherwise he would go to jail. She also imposed a six-month home curfew between 7pm and 5am with an electronic tag and ordered Bush to attend therapeutic treatments as ordered by the probation service under whose supervision Bush was placed for the duration of the two-year suspended sentence.
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One of those kicks could’ve killed the man and gets out for paying a bill?? Wha…
The police and court want you to be a witness to serious crimes so you can be beaten or killed and the perp gets away without even jail time. I see, no I did not see anyrhing officer. Thank you for protecting society. Great job court.
Why don’t we allow prisoners a chance to pay off debts in prison? The Government is just going to give them free money when they come out, true? Why don’t we get them to do jobs where they work for the community like cleaning public bathrooms, pickup trash, clean property, cemeteries etc. A hourly minimum wage would be necessary for the incentive to work? I’m sure it’s better for them and us. They get the freedom for 2-4 hours building up to 6 hours for the day and the money made could pay their debts. If not double the jail time? This I believe would help to get them a proper job once the public has seen they are ready. “I have changed since my incarceration and WANT TO JOIN SOCIETY.” I just think people being sent to living in a box, they get use to their condition and learn nothing from the ordeal of prison. There is no rehabilitation by putting someone in a box. All you get in higher percentages is more recidivism, mental issues, rage, hate, revenge, etc. We need a new idea.
If we think, what would help me to change my attitude. We don’t have a military, so it’s hard especially for boys once they reach their teens.
Yea he is Honduran bush not a Baya Bush
You’re wrong. West Bay and Cayman Brac is where this boy came from!
The judge just got duped by this career criminal.
Does he “work” anywhere near the subway in EE? Get your head out the sand Justice Cheryll Richards, this PoS needs prison time for attempted murder. This place really is the gong show these days.
Cheese Face
I can’t help but laugh. That’s hilarious lol
Ridiculous decision!
Pay it off AND do the time. We’re way too lenient with our criminals and that’s why crime is getting worse, they aren’t scared anymore. Though the leniency shouldn’t come as a surprise as we have criminals in office.
Suspended jail time for this kind of assault??? Unbelievable! XXX At a minimum, the compensation should be for much more than medical. People go to jail for having a tiny amount of ganga. With the state of the RCIPS, the judiciary and the DPP, don’t want to think about how the next ten years will look like.
Previous conviction for a similar offence and still gets away. What a joke.
The judges are the problem.
This sentence is a travesty and he should have been charged with grievous bodily harm for what he did to the victim, and it was his SECOND offence of this type. He deserved 5 years in jail at least.Cannot the justice dept appeal this sentence, it is often done, successfully, in Britain.
WTF? Kicked a man in the head in a brutal and prolonged attack that could have killed him and left him with life-changing injuries. And then there is no punishment other than pay the victims hospital bills and don’t go to a bar at night for 6 mths.
How would the judge feel if that had been one of her kids attacked this way?
There’s a lot more to the story. Only one side has been told.